Brehm: I became Catholic in part because of Pope Francis

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His Holiness Pope Francis is the only pope I have known as a Catholic. I converted to the faith later in life, in part because of the loving and compassionate example he set.

Francis once remarked that he wanted the church to serve as a spiritual field hospital for the poor and marginalized and broken. And he taught that all of us qualify for that latter category and that the need for the inner healing only God can provide is a universal one.

That call to embrace one’s brokenness is what drew me into the Catholic flock in 2016. At the time, I was struggling with loneliness, alcoholism and a lack of purpose. Life felt kind of dark. My mother, whose stalwart Protestant faith I had always admired, suggested I try going to church again. It seemed like a reasonable idea. So, in a move of pure laziness, I decided to sample the sanctuary across the street from where I lived, Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in northeast Minneapolis.

I knew nothing of Catholicism and expected to be intimidated by the liturgy and a holier-than-thou cleric. Instead, I never felt more welcomed. Father Dan Griffith, who now serves as the Basilica’s rector, was the head priest at the time. And each week his uplifting homilies, influenced mightily by Pope Francis, preached love and compassion and also reminded us of the destructiveness of sin. He reinforced to the parishioners that God loves us more than we could ever understand — just the way we are.

Week after week, I started to find my footing with the divine again. While I would still stumble in life, and continue to do so, the church has always been there to guide and support me. Pope Francis wanted to make the church more accessible to all — particularly the wounded and the searching — and I am grateful he did.

Jesus directs us: “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Pope Francis carried out that command beautifully throughout his life and pontificate. His unconditional love, sourced from God, poured out to the faithful and nonbelievers alike, a beautiful thing to witness in a highly transactional world.

Pope Francis also stood for the proposition that every single human life is a divine gift and should be dignified, respected and protected. Each one of us has a special and invaluable purpose we need to be free to fulfill, and Pope Francis called on the powerful to defend the powerless, particularly the unborn, the disabled, the elderly, refugees and the poor. Pope Francis believed that a human life is never a problem to be solved. Amen.

The world lost an extraordinary leader and pastor with the passing of Pope Francis. Although he sat on the throne of St. Peter, Pope Francis shunned earthly comfort and instead derived joy from asceticism, God’s word and serving others. His legendary smile was a powerful refutation of the modern lie that happiness only comes from self-seeking, wealth and earthly indulgence.

His Holiness Pope Francis leaves behind a legacy of kindness and charity our often harsh and weary world would do well to reflect on. “Well done, good and faithful servant.”